


The Guarder Snake

by 1Valor1



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Competent Harry Potter, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eventual Romance, F/M, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, No Smut, Older Woman/Younger Man, Protectiveness, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:53:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29510667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Valor1/pseuds/1Valor1
Summary: Harry Potter finds himself thrust into the Magical Society woefully inept and far too innocent.Luckily for him, an older Slytherin Girl takes him under her scales.
Relationships: Harry/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	The Guarder Snake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LordedAstrovas](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=LordedAstrovas).



> Hey everyone!
> 
> Welcome to the newest venture of mine, a sixteen part Harry/OFC Slytherin Girl! This will follow Harry through all Seven Years of Hogwarts and even go beyond this.
> 
> Fair warning, Harry in this is different than canon - more outgoing but no less stubborn, it makes for quite a combo!
> 
> This premise was originally based on a oneshot requested in my Discord by the user LordedAstrovas and I've adapted it into a 96k-120k story. Unlike my main story, The Power of Love, this will have no update schedule. At most this will update twice a month but more likely, it will update once a month.
> 
> Finally, my other new venture, a Harry/Delphini story, will be releasing this coming Friday.
> 
> Now, as usual: a thanks to my Beta's and Discord Staff - Alec, Alpple, Athena Hope, Babo, Champ, O'Neill, Seventh Son, SinisterFox, Tetricaclus and Xevier!
> 
> Feel free to join for updates and information, link on my profile and without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
> 
> (Sorry if you don't!)

**September 7th, 1991**

**Saturday Morning**

Harry woke up from a great sleep in an amazingly comfortable bed and immediately grabbed his glasses, putting them on once he had them in his grasp.

This would be his first weekend in the castle - his _new_ home for most of the year and all the ones that would follow. It was a dream come true, he could make friends without fear of them being runoff and the cherry on top was how many people wanted to be his friend! He'd never had such opportunities before and it baffled him. If only Dudley could see how popular he was and how powerless he'd be to run these new friends off!

"G'morning Ron!" Harry greeted in the direction of his mate's bed, snoring being his greeting back.

"Merlin's sake Harry, it's the weekend, sleep in!" Dean's voice whisper-yelled back, the boy didn't sound overly angry though, which was good.

"Sorry mate!" Harry apologized, his energetic and joyous mood causing him to swing his legs over the side of the bed as he quickly raced to the showers to enjoy a day with no classes. They barely had any work to do outside of class with it being the first week and more than anything, Harry wanted to capitalize on that in the form of exploring the grounds or making new friends. Both were entirely possible - his choices and freedom were almost limitless!

Bathed and dressed for the day, Harry made his way down to the common room. There weren't a lot of people there, but it didn't bother him. Even if only one student was in the room they were somebody new to speak with without fear.

"Hey, I'm Harry Potter and you are?"

He started with a singular girl that looked a few years older than him - dark hair, tanned skin and brown eyes were her notable features.

She looked him up and down, smiling at the boy's enthusiasm. "I'm Loma Wolpers, it's nice to meet you, Harry Potter."

Now, he'd only planned to introduce himself and make small talk for a few minutes with each person but the girl had other ideas, pulling him onto the seat beside her.

"You're up so early, are you always like this?"

He nodded exaggeratedly. "Yes!"

Loma ruffled his already wild hair with a hand. "Good for you, you'll stay ahead of most of your year mates most likely. Never forget that hard work pays off!"

"Already trying to get a cub to follow in your steps Loma?" A boy's voice questioned teasingly - Harry looked over at the source and saw that it was the boy who'd been sitting in the far corner with a girl around his age.

"He'll thank me for it when he's older!" Loma, his new friend, defended.

Not fully grasping what they meant, Harry nodded and agreed with her. "I'll thank her when I'm older."

"Aww, he's so cute." The girl beside the boy came over and pinched his cheek lightly, making him scowl.

"Oh leave him alone Nina, you know how much we hate that." The equally unknown boy said, coming to stand between Harry and the girl he now knew as Nina while looking at him. "Stuart Foxglove, a pleasure to meet you, Harry."

"It's good meeting you both too!" Harry responded, jutting out a hand to shake which Stuart returned. When it came to Nina, she swatted it aside and pulled him into a light hug, causing him to tense up slightly at the enveloped feeling. Thankfully, the girl relented after only a few seconds had passed.

"Such a cutey!" Was her parting comment as she and Stuart went back over to their corner, saying as a way of farewell that they had 'older' things to do. Harry looked to Loma to explain but the girl had gone red like she was sick, when he pointed it out she got even more so but waved away his concern.

"Don't worry about me, you should… you should go to breakfast!" Loma didn't wait for him to respond as she bolted up the stairs to the girl's dorms - it'd been explained to him on his first day that boys couldn't enter but girls could enter the boy's dorms. It didn't make any sense to him but he knew better than to follow, two ginger boys had warned him about the enchantments should he try.

After the hasty exit from his newest friend, Harry had left the common room and made the adventurous journey to the Great Hall as she'd suggested. As usual, there was an exorbitant amount of food spread across each of the four gigantic tables. He'd briefly considered sitting with students from another house before thinking better of it. While he wanted to make new friends, he wasn't sure if some rule existed that he was unaware of that forbade sitting at a table that wasn't meant for your house. Harry most definitely wouldn't be finding out either - the Dursleys

were where punishment belonged, not here in his new home, he was good!

Making his way over to the Gryffindor table, Harry did take notice of how many students were eating from each house even if he'd decided against sitting with them. While he didn't know if his earlier thought was a rule, he knew interacting with them, in general, was fine. That meant once he was done eating, he could start talking with those who left at the same time he had!

About fifteen students from Hufflepuff were at their table, with maybe two dozen at Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's each. His house had similar numbers to Hufflepuff and most of them were older students who were already deep in conversation, something he'd not want to interrupt since it was rude to do so.

With nobody to speak with, Harry piled his plate up high and ate quickly - not quick enough to cause a mess as Ron had though.

At the same time he stood up, finished eating, he saw two Ravenclaw's already making their way towards the exit. Now was his chance to interact with them and see if they'd be willing to speak with him - if he were lucky, he'd make two new friends and from a different house this time! Take that Dudley!

Harry trailed after the quick-moving pair, being just out of yelling range but close enough that he'd not give up on following after them. After all, the worst-case scenario was he'd be lost to exploring the beautiful Castle and eventually happen across other students or maybe a Professor. There was no losing situation for the boy, at least in his mind - unfortunately being a boy at his age and not used to the culture of the wizarding world, he was wrong.

Something painful hit him in the back and as he turned around to see what it was that caused it, another hit him in the leg. It wasn't enough to cause him to fall to the ground, he'd had worse pain than this before, but pain was pain and it still hurt.

What greeted him when he looked back was Malfoy, the git who'd been rude to his first friend Ron Weasley back on the Hogwarts Express. Harry wasn't scared of the boy, especially when he compared him to Dudley! What did scare Harry were the two giant boys beside him along with the half dozen of older students he'd not yet seen before or if he had, didn't remember them.

"Remember what I said about the wrong sort, _Potter_?" Malfoy spoke with arrogance, spitting his name out, his friends laughing as he did so.

He wouldn't bow down to them! Harry stood tall ( or as tall as a boy his age could ) and glared defiantly. "I stand by my decision, _Malfoy_."

Harry thought it was a nice touch, spitting out Malfoy's name just as the boy had spat out his.

"Stupid blood traitor!" Malfoy snarled back, going for his wand but being stopped by one of his older friends.

"Your father told us to keep you out of trouble Malfoy, due to this, we'll be the ones doing the cursing." An older boy said to him, stopping Malfoy in his tracks before looking at Harry with utter loathing and contempt in his eyes. "He's not a blood traitor either, his mudblood whore mother ruined the prestigious line he'd come from. I suppose it'll be our job to make sure he can't continue ruining his family's legacy."

Harry whipped out his wand and raised it at the boy in defence, but there would be nothing he could do, they both knew that.

Malfoy laughed and so did the others, all of them but the former grabbing their wands with different looks of glee on their faces.

"Petri-"

Harry watched as the boy at the head of the group started an incantation only for his wand to be ripped from his hands, flying off behind them into the hands of a tall brunette girl with others beside her.

"Good evening Rowle, Yaxley and… others." The girl trailed off when looking at the rest of them, disinterested and looking as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"What do you want Avery? This doesn't concern you." Rowle, the boy who'd been at the head of the group, questioned the girl. Harry could see Rowle was shaking ever so slightly just as he imagined he was when they confronted him.

"Unfortunately for you, it does." Avery walked between their group with her friends close behind her, all of them with their wands out. Harry took notice of how Malfoys friends split for Avery and hers.

"My father wil-" Malfoy started only for Avery to wave her hand at him, silencing him mid-sentence much to the confusion of the Malfoy heir.

"Make sure you tell him _exactly_ what happened." Avery then turned her back on the group while walking over to Harry. Once she was at him, she crouched until they were level with one another. Avery looked him over, looking for any signs of injury and then spoke in so quiet a tone he thought he was hearing things.

"Are you alright Harry?"

When he didn't answer, the girl arched an eyebrow and brought a hand to his cheek, tilting his face so he could look directly into her eyes. Something about her instantly calmed him, not just mentally but physically too. It was as if his mind and body were wrapped in a blanket of warmth and soothing. His pain from the hex was stopped and his fear from the moment he'd been caught up was sent away. Because of that, he could finally return her answer.

"Yes… thank you… and sorry." He felt weak and horrible, not only was he unable to defend himself against attack but he'd made the girl and her friends get involved too - against their own housemates no less!

Avery smiled softly and stood back up, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to hold him close. She then turned around and her tone was just as aggressive as it'd been before speaking with him.

"Should I hear _any_ of you upper years harass or otherwise cause problems for Harry, you'll be having a chat with me." Her threat was so obvious even Harry picked up on it, she then continued with something that confused him. "Malfoy is free to pursue his childish antagonising and so are his companions… can anybody tell me why that is?"

Rowle mumbled something while a few of the others shuffled on their feet.

Avery's tone was so full of authority that Harry cringed just as those across from him did.

"Say it aloud."

A chorus of voices that sounded humiliated and absolutely livid rang out.

"You warned us to stay out of lower year drama."

Those beside Avery laughed at their humiliation while the girl herself shook her head and sighed. Evidently, she was far from impressed and very annoyed at having to deal with this, once again, Harry felt terrible.

"Leave." That one word from her caused all of them, Malfoy included, to jog away from the scene. Harry didn't understand why they were so scared of her and wouldn't for quite some time. What he did understand was that she'd given an order and he would be following it as the other boys had - maybe he could head back to the common room and find Loma.

Harry tried to disengage himself from the girl's grip and leave as she'd said, but she wouldn't let him go. If anything, he felt her grip tighten as her attention went back to him.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Something about her very presence was weird to him, being near her had calmed him and when she asked that question, he wanted to tell her the truth about everything that question could entail. About his family, about his school life beforehand and about his run-in with Malfoy. He didn't understand it.

"Avery, you're doing it again." Another girl said, looking between Avery and Harry.

What was she doing again?

"Ah, so I am." Avery let go of him and ran a hand over him to smooth his robes. "Sorry about that Potter, but I do want to hear from you if you're okay."

He stepped back from her and watched as all the eyes in the Hall tracked him. Her four friends watched him with varying levels of interest while Avery herself focused solely on him.

"I'm alright… I'm sorry too, you didn't have to fight your housemates for me!" Harry hated how he sounded but he had to apologize, even if that meant his rescuers would yell at him.

"We've dealt with them for less in the past." Avery replied, her friends laughing or shaking their heads at her words. She continued on while walking over to him to pat his messy hair. "If they give you trouble again, any at all, come to me or one of my friends here. We'll escort you back to your common room entrance or near enough."

And they did. Avery, as she was called, had stayed beside him the entire time, not letting her friends get close to him. Harry was tempted to start a conversation with her multiple times but right before he'd gather the courage to do so, it would fade. He'd end up making the whole walk in silence while his five new 'friends' made sure he was back safely.

Avery patted him on the head once they were close enough and motioned towards the entrance up the stairs.

"Go on then."

Harry was about to do just that, but he finally grabbed the courage before it could flee and asked her a question.

"Why'd you help me?"

Avery appraised him for barely three seconds and tilted her head with a soft smile on it. "You'll find out eventually, Harry Potter." She then motioned again for him to climb the stairs and he did so, occasionally looking back at the group of five that waited to leave until he was right at the entrance.

That was his first time meeting a girl who he'd come to see as his best friend throughout his First Year at Hogwarts.

**September 19th, 1991**

**Thursday Evening**

Harry had given up on seeing Avery or her friends after their rescue of him a little over a week ago. Twice had he tried to communicate with Avery and three additional times had he attempted to speak with friends of hers, every time was met with them shaking their heads at him. Far be it from him to complain about the group, especially after their helping him - but why wouldn't his saviours interact with him?

As it turned out, he'd get that answer right as he made to leave the Library where he'd been studying silently when a hand grasped his robes from behind.

"Sit."

It was Avery's voice! But where had the girl come from? Harry had been ultra observant for the girl and to the best of his recollection, she hadn't entered during his whole in. Avery also hadn't been in the library prior to his coming either, he'd checked for her.

Harry did as commanded, hastily planting himself back in his seat and watching as the girl came out from behind him.

She slowly went around the table he'd been sitting at and flicked the chair backwards with a wave of her hand, sliding into it with a grace that he'd never be able to mimic. Her expression wasn't annoyed as he'd feared for his pestering, in fact, it showed nothing but serenity.

"I assume you're upset with me for not coming to speak with you sooner?" Avery asked the question with no hint as to the emotions she was feeling.

Of course he was! They had helped him, showed concern for him and seemed to be genuinely nice people - but then they tossed him aside with not a word of warning. But Harry didn't say any of that.

"No... "

Avery snorted from her seat, her visage distorting for a moment before it settled back into that of the calmness she was feeling.

"You're a terrible liar, Harry."

He flushed at her words and angrily questioned her. "Why didn't any of you want to see me?"

Harry feared she'd get up and leave when she didn't immediately reply, but such fears didn't come to fruition.

"More was at play than you can realize at this point in time." Avery saw how that did little to calm him and sighed. "While I can apologise for our avoiding of you, it was for the benefit of us both. Suffice to say that should we be seen together too often, it would negatively impact us both, at least for the time being."

Why does it matter who you spend time with, wasn't Hogwarts a free place?

"Why?"

Avery looked intently at him and stopped herself from speaking an immediate response.

"How much do you know about your family?"

"My aunt and uncle? The Dursley's are fi-"

"No, the Potter's, Harry."

Should he tell her that he knew about them when he didn't? No that wouldn't work, she'd already shown that she was impossible to lie to.

"Nothing."

Her eyebrows raised and a look he couldn't decipher crossed her face.

"Nothing at all?"

Rather than respond to her, he shook his head and looked down - he heard her sigh again.

"We'll have to fix that."

Harry's head snapped back up to look at the girl with newfound energy. She was going to tell him about his family! He'd finally be able to know about his parents!

Avery took note of his hopeful expression and a small smile presented itself on her face.

"Once this little incident is a few months stale, we'll talk about them, okay?"

Just like that, his excitement was gone and Harry mumbled out an affirmative to her words. She'd seen him and this was likely what she wanted to speak about, he could go now. He stood up from his seat and Avery mimicked him, the girl going to speak until a whistle from his left interrupted her. Harry looked over just as soon as she had and noticed one of her friends standing beside a bookshelf while nodding in the direction of the library entrance. When he looked back at Avery who was now looking at him, he could see whatever it was meant their meeting was now firmly over. That didn't stop her from getting in the remark she wanted to.

"Come back here in two weeks, this very same table, we'll talk again then." She stood up and began casually walking towards the girl who'd whistled to them. Right before she was out of whispering range, he heard her soft voice call back to him. "Stay safe, Harry."

**October 3rd, 1991**

**Thursday Evening**

Where was Avery?

Here he was, seated alone at the table exactly two weeks later with absolutely no sign of the secretive Slytherin girl. Had she been unable to come and not had the chance to warn him? Either way, her being later or not coming, it didn't help how he was sitting alone without a book like an absolute melon.

"Come on… where are you?" Harry mumbled aloud while hanging his head down.

"You haven't checked behind you for a few minutes, Potter." Avery's voice came from behind him just as she'd done before - how had she kept doing that?

He whipped around and saw the girl leaning casually against a bookshelf with a crooked smile on her face.

"How'd you do that? I was watching the door, you never entered!"

Avery stopped leaning against the bookshelf and walked around the table to the same seat she'd taken before.

"Are you certain of that?"

Harry nodded emphatically and crossed his arms, giving the older girl a pointed look which he'd hoped would intimidate her enough to spill just how she'd pulled one over on him… again. Rather than having the desired effect, it had quite the opposite. Avery's crooked smile morphed into a grin as she chuckled and reached a hand over to mess his already wild hair. He tried batting her hands away but it did little to stop her.

Seeing that he'd given up defending his hair but was still pouting, the girl pulled back and raised both hands in surrender.

Harry smiled victoriously and when Avery leaned in after looking conspiratorially around the room, he mimicked her, expecting some huge revelation. Her one-word answer crushed his hopes of that.

"Magic."

"Can you show me?" If she wouldn't tell him, she could show him, though based on the uptick of her eyebrows that was easier said than done.

"I could, perhaps on another of our meetings down the road." Avery clearly meant to finish there but upon seeing the look Harry had, she continued. "Harry, I'm not meaning to keep anything from you, believe m-"

"Why should I? I don't even know your first name! You helped me once against Malfoy and the gits that follow him but since then, you've been more secretive than anybody I've met!"

Avery stared at him once he finished his outburst, the girl showing no outwards signs of annoyance or any emotion really, she just seemed observant. They both stayed in silence, looking at one another, her in a state of utter calmness while his rapid breathing calmed after his annoyance had shown through. Finally, Avery sighed and looked at him in such a way that he didn't understand.

"You're right. Other than that one time you mentioned, I've done nothing for you and given you no reason for you to trust me. I've been secretive to the point of not even giving you my first name, let alone the names of my friends that you know only by appearance." Avery motioned towards her right and when he followed where she pointed, he saw the same girl as before that'd whistled. Seeing that they were both looking at her from the corner of her eye, she turned briefly and winked at him before resuming her watch on whatever it was that she was watching. That little interaction out of the way, Avery turned back to him. "I promise you, Harry Potter, that once those above me graduate this year, essentially giving me impunity in Slytherin, that I will tell and teach everything you want to know about our world."

"Why are they stopping you from doing it now?" Harry questioned innocently while still holding onto a bit of the pout that'd been on his face.

"Politics, Harry, they run the world as soon as we're brought into it and continue to do so until our last breath." Avery's friend knocked over a book and coughed while bending down to pick it up, which he guessed was a signal just as the whistle had been prior based on the way Avery got to her feet and started to walk behind him.

He stopped her with a small hand to her arm. "You never told me your name!"

Avery smiled and took his hand gently off her arm. "I guess you'll have to meet me here again in two weeks if you really want it."

"Wai-" Harry stopped mid-word and chased after the girl. He went around the corner just as she had and rather than see her, he was greeted with nothing. Avery had vanished just as easily as she'd appeared and he was left with more questions, along with an even greater respect for spellwork.

All that registered on the way back to Gryffindor tower was how wicked magic was if somebody could vanish without a trace in seconds.

**October 17th, 1991**

**Thursday Evening**

Harry was ready for Avery this time.

She wouldn't have the chance to sneak up on him with where he'd positioned himself - that being with his chair practically against a bookshelf while he continuously scanned the room for any sign of her.

A flurry of movement from his right made him turn, a victorious smile on his face at thinking he'd finally caught her before she snuck up on him, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Another student had moved, a Ravenclaw boy a few years older than himself. He disregarded the boy and went back to his observation.

More movement came, this time from his left and when he turned he saw a book fall from the shelf with nobody around it.

_She's invisible again, cheater!_

Harry stalked over to where the book had fallen and swiped his hands around in the air, expecting to make contact with her invisible body. When nothing came of it, he moved around the area still flailing his limbs madly.

"You feeling alright, Harry?" Avery's voice questioned him, the girl sounding further away than he'd expected.

He whipped around and saw her coming from the entrance to the library. "How'd you do that?"

She cocked her head and raised a brow, assuming he meant how she had come in. "Walking?"

"No! The book, you distracted me and then just walked in again to mess with me!" Harry thought he'd caught on to her though based on the blankness of her face, she had no clue what he meant. Her next words stated as much.

"I'm unsure just what you mean, but let me hazard a guess unless you're opposed?" Avery observed him to see if he would argue and when he didn't, she continued after walking over to stand beside him. "This book on the ground-" She pointed at it, "-Fell from the shelf and with my surprising you these last two meetings, you assumed that I'd used it as a distraction to get by you?"

Harry nodded many times over.

"You've seen me disappear before, right?"

He nodded again.

Avery grasped his hand and began leading him back over to their regular seats. Avery nodded to two people that passed them by when doing so, both of them Harry recognized as friends of hers that had helped him. She first walked him over to his seat before gracefully sliding into her own and when they both were seated, she leaned forward to rest her head lazily on her left hand.

"Tell me, Harry, why would I use a distraction if I could disappear from sight as you've seen?"

"Maybe you wanted to prank like the Weasley twins!" It was a weak point considering just how valid her words were.

She scoffed and waved away his words. "Those two are dolts who wouldn't be capable of doing what I can, that isn't to say they're not amusing," Avery added the latter half when it appeared like Harry was going to defend them. Having silenced him, she spoke again. "Would you want to continue this pointless questioning, in doing so wasting our time, or would you rather learn my name and why I seem to be willing to assist you?"

"Your name!" He blurted aloud without thought, following it up with a more controlled, "I want to know your name and why you've helped me instead of your housemates."

Upon hearing his full answer, she waved her hand and all outside noise was instantly gone. He looked at her not the first time in wonder, the girl knew and could do things that he hadn't even thought of in the brief time he's been at Hogwarts. Needless to say, Harry was very much looking forward to when she'd begin helping him rather than sticking with the biweekly meetings they had.

"Your father was James Potter, a Lord to an Ancient and Noble House, widely considered one of the most talented wizards of his time. That didn't mean all his peers liked him. One evening on his way back from Quidditch he came across a Slytherin boy being assailed by his own housemates - such a thing is incredibly rare before you ask why I mentioned it. Your father wasted no time in jumping to that boy's defence and ran off the three Slytherin's who'd attacked him. From that day on, our fathers became… friends, as unlikely as it was. In doing so they blatantly showed a disregard for the status quo, not that they cared. Both faced repercussions from their Housemates over their remaining years but all that seemed to do was strengthen the friendships they already had and the bond that connected the two of them." Avery stopped for a breath and looked over to her two friends that were looking towards the entrance while casually speaking. Harry waited patiently, ensnared by the story she was telling. Satisfied that they still had at least a few minutes left, she looked back at him. "Suffice to say that they had a deep friendship and that lasted until the day your father was killed. Fast forward to near-present times, my father was looking for you. While not related to you, he'd hoped to make a bid with the Ministry using his wealth of connections and powerful economic standing to force them to take you away from wherever you currently were so you could be raised by him. When that proved too difficult, considering nobody but _Dumbledore_ knew where you were, my father entrusted me with a task. I admit, initially being given said task, that being to find you and care for you, was something that I hadn't wanted to do."

Harry tried to argue but Avery raised her hands, continuing strongly rather than letting him bog down the subject matter for the night. "That was until I saw how innocent and unknowing of our world you truly are… among other things." Her face looked a mixture of angry and another emotion he failed to place. "You're the Heir to an Ancient and Noble House and that affords you more rights than most, rights which the Ministry has failed to provide you with. My father feels as if he's failed you too, he assumed that once I told you all of what I have, you wouldn't want to see him. Now, with your reentry into our world, he can once again try and have you brought to our family - should you want that."

Avery looked to him once she'd finally finished, her look expectant, but Harry wasn't sure what to say. How could he know at his age how to deal with all the information he'd just been given? Avery, to her credit, seemed to pick up on how lost he was and offered a small smile.

"You don't have to make the choice right this second Harry, I doubt many people could." She reached a hand across and firmly grasped his smaller shoulder. "I hope this shows at the very least that you can trust me to some degree, for even if you decide to stay wherever it is you currently are, we'll do our best to support you."

Harry, still unable to find any words to put to use simply nodded his head. He didn't know why but for whatever reason, his mind was telling him that he could trust this girl, that he could feel at ease around her.

He jumped when her attention snapped to the direction of her friends, the two appearing to argue. Harry would jump again when she waved her hand and all the sound that'd been gone came rushing back to him - all of a sudden the room had felt much louder than it'd been prior to their conversation and a headache quickly came on as a result.

Avery stood up and began making her way behind him again, the argument probably having been the new signal.

_She didn't tell me her name_.

Harry found his voice as that thought came racing to the forefront of his mind, even knocking aside the headache that seemed to be growing more powerful as time progressed.

"What's your name?"

She stopped in her tracks and looked back over her shoulder at him, a smile present on her face.

"Heiress Cora Avery. We'll speak again in two weeks, Harry."

He trailed after her as he'd done before and just like their last meeting when he turned the corner, she was gone.

_Cora Avery._ That name would be in his head on repeat until their next meeting, as would everything else she'd told him.

It wouldn't take too long after that Thursday evening for him to decide on going with her Father either, any life with a family other than the Dursley's would be preferable. Especially if it meant staying close with a girl as powerful as her!

**November 1st, 1991**

**Thursday Evening**

Harry was walking back to the Gryffindor common room alone, having stayed late in the Great Hall in hopes of seeing Avery - the girl had eluded him. He'd wanted to speak with her after the incident with the Troll, an incident in which he very luckily came out unscathed. Potential for injury or death hadn't been lost on him and he'd stress that to the girl when they finally spoke again.

Avery needed to train him! Plus, considering he'd missed his evening meeting with her, it was up to him to reschedule.

"Harry Potter?"

An unknown voice called out from behind him, causing the boy to turn around.

It was Avery's friend, the one who'd always been in the library whenever they'd meet.

Harry cocked his head to the side and managed to get out, "What is i-" before he was off his feet and zipping through the air into an abandoned classroom.

His first thought was the girl had set him up all this time and Malfoy was finally getting his revenge. That ended abruptly when the force controlling him stopped and deposited him in a chair across from a very agitated looking Avery.

"Hello, Harry." Her voice was controlled with not a smidgen of her visual annoyance slipping into it, that fact only served to make him even more nervous.

"Uh… Hi, sorry for missing our meeting." He'd stumbled over his words initially but recovered enough that his voice didn't waiver again.

Avery scoffed and leaned forwards. "You have more to apologize for than that."

"Sorry for not finding you sooner?" His apology came out more like a question and even then, the girl shook her head - that wasn't what she wanted to hear from him.

"Try again."

"Sorry for…" Harry began racking his brain as to what else she could want him to say and when she saw how lost he'd become, she sighed.

"Harry, missing our meeting is trivial in comparison to your other transgression."

Harry looked at Avery, clearly missing what she was getting at, causing the girl to sigh a second time as she started up again.

"You disobeyed the order given by Hogwarts Staff and went looking for a missing housemate, which landed you directly in the path of a Mountain Troll. Through sheer luck and the unintelligence of said creature, you managed to come out unharmed, thank Merlin. Now, do you understand what else you need to apologize for?"

"I did what you did! I helped someone who needed it!" Harry stood up from his seat and tried to look intimidating to the older girl, based on the shake of her head, he was anything but.

"What you did goes beyond that and you know it, at least partially." Harry didn't understand why she'd added partially but didn't have the chance to think about it when Avery continued. "Where I knew my friends and I could handle Malfoy's group, you knew nothing about taking on an adult Troll with one other First Year."

"She needed my help!" Why didn't Avery understand that what he'd done was right? He was helping people just like she helped him, now she was saying he didn't do what she did?

"Harry, calm down," Avery said firmly while motioning back to his seat.

He shook his head and stared defiantly at the girl.

"Harry, we're going to continue communicating with maturity, tantrums aren't productive."

Again he shook his head and with a roll of her eyes, the girl suddenly had her wand in her hand as just like before, Harry was controlled with magic until he was forcibly sat back in his seat. Unlike before, it hadn't let up immediately and Harry looked at Avery who simply raised a brow in return.

"When you prove able to act again without letting your emotions get the better of you, we'll continue. Until then, I'm content to enjoy your company in silence."

He was tempted to yell out for help but thought better of it, that didn't mean he'd immediately listened to what the girl was telling him, no, it took five minutes before his head was level again. At which point he'd quietly apologized to Avery and she smiled at him while waving off whatever magic she used.

"I understand that the girl who you rescued was a friend of yours and as such, you likely felt a form of attachment to her. But you have to consider that this time, you got lucky and that's all there is to it. There are hundreds if not thousands of scenarios where you did the same and came out much worse for wear."

"N-" Harry tried to protest and with another movement from her wand, he found himself unable to speak.

He looked at her in surprise which she returned to him with a look of disappointment before she continued. "All I ask is that you come to me next time if you find yourself so unable to let the Professors do their jobs. It would make my life easier and make yours longer - not to mention I can't imagine my parents would be happy in the slightest if they never even had the chance to meet you. Can you do that for me?"

Harry looked at Avery and saw she was staring into his eyes so intently that he felt as if she could see into his mind, a snort from her made his eyes go wider at the idea that she could indeed see what he was thinking.

"Well, Harry?" Her tone even had a tinge of amusement in it!

Seeing her eyes narrow caused Harry to hastily reply. "Yes! I can do that!"

"Good," Avery responded before looking him over with the emotions on her face shifting from strictness to caring. "You're unhurt? Not a scratch on you?"

Harry beamed with pride at Avery. "Not a scratch!"

She stood up from her seat and walked over to him when he'd said that, taking a closer look at him. She seemed to be pleased that he hadn't lied when she patted him on the shoulder and smiled down at him, a smile which he returned as readily as she'd given it.

"Avery? Are we meeting in the library in two weeks as usual?"

She gazed at his pleading look and ruffled his hair. "Why ask for my name if you're not going to use it?"

He sputtered in reply as the girl began walking away from him and towards the exit, fearing he'd messed up until she turned towards him with a small, satisfied smile on her face.

"See you next Thursday, Harry Potter."

She departed as soon as his last name left her mouth and Harry was hit with one sudden realization.

He hadn't gotten to ask her for lessons of any kind.


End file.
